


Cataclysmic Catastrophe

by arivess



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: I’m not on drugs I swear, M/M, What Was I Thinking, idk guys, meow, swinging POVs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 15:57:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10902636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arivess/pseuds/arivess
Summary: Ignis does a magic experiment that backfires. Oddness ensues.





	Cataclysmic Catastrophe

**Author's Note:**

> This seemed like a great idea at 1 in the morning. I’m not sure why I continued thinking it was a great idea when it was no longer 1 in the morning, but here we are.
> 
> It also. Got a bit out of hand. Just a little. I didn’t plan for it to be this ridiculous, I swear. Or this long.

Ignis Scientia was a man of many talents, though he did not count magic particularly highly amongst them. He had no natural aptitude for it, but he was a quick study and a great believer in hard work and persistence, at least insofar as they applied to things that could help Noctis. He was no Kingsglaive, and couldn’t warp to save his life – and he had given it _several_ rather undignified attempts – but his command of elemental magic was the greatest out of all the Crownsguard despite being the youngest and newest member. He had also recently made a breakthrough that might actually allow them to do what the Kingsglaive couldn’t. Or, at least, what the Kingslgaive hadn’t thought of.

 

“If you could infuse the essence of an object into a spell, they might interact in such a way as to modify the properties and—“ Ignis had tried to explain it to Gladio, only to have the Shield wave him off with a blank stare.

 

“Look, Iggy,” Gladio had said, “I’m just the muscles. You and Noct can handle the magic.”

 

Noctis was, in fact, the next person Ignis brought his idea to, but the prince didn’t even let him start. “Sorry, Specs, I’ve gotta study. Can it wait until after exams?”

 

Ignis knew Noctis had exams, and yes it could, and Ignis waited a whole day before getting impatient and deciding to do more testing on his theory himself.

 

He had never imagined it would be such a grave mistake.

 

It must have been something stuck to the fur sample he had procured, because he was quite sure combining garula hide with fire magic should not, could not possibly have done _this_. To make matters worse, he couldn’t even cast another spell, so someone else would have to reverse it for him, and he doubted anyone else would be able to fix his mistake unless they could figure out what he was trying to do _and_ where he went wrong, and that was going to be close to impossible.

 

Pushing back the wave of rising panic – because he was Ignis Scientia, advisor and steward to the future king of Lucis, and he was calm and collected at all times and most certainly did _not_ panic, ever – Ignis focused on the task at hand. First, he had to make someone aware of what he did. And, considering the only person he had explained his theory to was Gladio, his choices were pretty limited. And as much as Gladio claimed he was all muscle, Ignis knew the man was actually quite brilliant, and maybe, _maybe_ even listened to his initial explanation. Plus, as long as he kept it to Gladio, Noctis would never need to find out.

 

With a nod, Ignis nudged open his window, hopped out, and headed towards the Amicitia manor.

 

~*~

 

Iris Amicitia was _bored_. It was Saturday afternoon, and everyone was busy, and there was absolutely nothing for an 11-year-old girl to do.

 

She had tried Gladio first, in the morning, and asked him to teach her a new move, but he shouted something about special training and ran off and hadn’t been back since.

 

Next, she waited outside Noctis’s apartment to see if he would come out, and he didn’t, for what felt like _hours_ , and she was bored and hungry and eventually Ignis walked by, looking all rushed-like, and told her that if she was looking for Noctis, he was busy studying.

 

So Iris went home, and bugged Jared for something to do, but even the old butler was less obliging than usual. Her father had a guest coming that evening, he explained, and he had to prepare. The best he could offer was for Talcott to keep her company, but Iris didn’t want to play with a little kid. In the end, she had no better alternative than to simply take her lunch in the family garden by herself.

 

That was when it happened.

 

“Meow?”

 

Iris froze, a spoonful of pudding halfway to her mouth.

 

“Meow?”

 

Very slowly, she put down the spoon, and peered in the direction of the sound. There was nothing but shrubbery, as far as she could see. In a voice barely above a breath, she whispered, “Kitty?”

 

Something shifted under a bush, and Iris rubbed her eyes. Melting out of the shadows was a cat the colour of night, dappled with an even deeper black. It seemed cautious but unafraid as Iris slid out of her chair and into a crouch, her hand held out invitingly. The cat gave her hand a disinterested sniff and headed towards her house. Eyes wide, Iris gave a small squeak and scrambled in front of it, blocking its way. “Wait, kitty, you can’t go in there! Jared is cleaning up for dinner. He’ll get mad if you get dirt and hair everywhere.”

 

Well, he wouldn’t get mad, exactly, but he’d be upset, but Iris wasn’t really going to explain that to a cat as if it could understand her. Except it really seemed as if it could; it sat down after she told it to stop, and seemed to be studying her house.

 

“Are you lost, kitty?” Iris plopped down beside the cat and petted its head lightly, which it seemed to only grudgingly allow.

 

“Meow.”

 

Iris didn’t know whether that was a “yes” meow or a “no” meow.

  
The cat started towards her house again, and Iris grabbed its tail, inciting a loud yowl. “I _told_ you, kitty, you can’t go in there!”

 

The cat glared at her, and Iris put on her most intimidating face. She let go of the tail and stood up, her hands on her hips. “ _No_.”

  
For a moment, no one moved. Then suddenly, the cat shot forward, but was already gone when Iris grabbed at it, on her other side. As she turned, it dashed towards her house and leaped in through an open window.

 

“Kitty, noooo! That’s Gladdy’s room!”

 

~*~

 

It was, without a doubt, the worst day of Ignis’s life. First, he’d had an experiment fail on him, and it had been a spectacularly backfiring failure. He’d lost the use of magic, and couldn’t even help himself. And then, to add insult to injury, he had to face the indignity of getting his _tail_ pulled. And to top it off, after getting through all these trials and tribulations, the one person he was banking his hopes on was nowhere to be found.

 

Gladio’s room was empty. It wasn’t empty in the sense that there was nothing in it, but it was empty in the sense that there was no _Gladio_ in it. Ignis was sure he had the right room, made all the more sure with Iris’s screaming, and thanked his lucky stars the Shield liked to leave his windows open. He found soon that his stars were not, in fact, very lucky, and they had been stringing him along like a fool.

 

He heard the pitter-patter of running feet, somewhere down the hall and coming closer. He didn’t have much time. If Gladio wasn’t there, Ignis needed to find out where, and fast. He hopped onto the table, nudging through the books to find a note, a planner, _anything_ …

 

All he found were novels, piles and piles of them: new thrillers, old classics, even some in a foreign language that Ignis wasn’t fully fluent in.

 

The door flew open. Ignis tensed.

 

“KITTY!”

 

Iris was _loud_ , and Ignis cursed his new, sensitive hearing. He still hadn’t found any hints of Gladio’s whereabouts, but he suspected his sanity was going to suffer rather severely if he were to stay. He decided to cut his losses and made a flying leap towards the window.

 

Iris was faster.

 

Ignis felt all his dignity fly out the window in front of him as he hit the glass panes with a thud. It didn’t hurt, but he wasn’t sure his pride was ever going to recover. Iris loomed before him, a furious gigas of a little girl, and latched the windows closed. Ignis had never felt such fear as in that moment.

 

“I tooooold you,” Iris took a step towards him, finger jabbing the air threateningly, “you can’t come in here.”

 

Ignis couldn’t back up any farther, pressed up against the wall. He eyed the window behind him, wondering how much force it would take to break through it, but quickly dismissed the idea. He doubted he’d be able to do it, and if he did, he wasn’t sure if Gladio would kill him first, or the injuries he’d sustain. So then, he was well and truly trapped in a room with a life-threatening entity that he could not in good conscience fight. For a moment, he lamented that Noctis would never know what became of him – then realized that that was probably a good thing.

 

As Ignis was about to resign to his fate, the door cracked open. For a split second, it was as if time froze. Then, Ignis darted around Iris and ran for his life, ignoring the thundering voice behind him screaming, “Talcott, no! Get him!”

 

Ignis had never imagined being tackled by a 3-year-old would be more terrifying than a greatsword slicing down a hair’s breadth in front of his face, but he had been wrong before.

  
He had been wrong a whole lot, the past few hours.

  
“Kitty!”

  
For instance, he was wrong in his assessment of how likely a toddler was to catch a running cat.

 

“Got him!” Talcott announced proudly, arms wrapped around Ignis’s middle in a death grip, squeezing with all the force a 3-year-old could muster. Which, actually, was a fair bit, considering Ignis’s current state. He laboured to draw a breath and wondered, idly, if it would be okay to use force against an Amicitia child and her young servant if his life was in danger, then decided he’d probably rather die than have to potentially explain it in court – or worse, to _Gladio_. And speaking of dying, he’d probably exhausted all 9 metaphorical lives he had, by then.

 

“Great job, Talcott!” Iris cheered, and Talcott cheered, both completely oblivious to Ignis’s mortal discomfort.

 

Iris stomped in front of him, arms akimbo. “Now, kitty, I _told_ you you can’t come in here. _Especially_ not in Gladdy’s room.”

 

Scolded. He, Ignis Scientia, advisor to the future king of Lucis, was being _scolded_ by Iris Amicitia. If he weren’t facing a very real risk of asphyxiation and internal bleeding, he would find the situation hilariously ironic. Embarrassing, certainly, but so absurd he couldn’t not laugh. Except right now, laughing could cost him the last precious few seconds of his life.

 

“Talcott? Iris?” An unexpected saviour came in the form of Jared Hester. “What is all the commotion?” As he rounded the corner and saw them, he paused. “What do we have here?”

 

“Kitty!” Talcott answered helpfully, and Ignis felt a wave of vertigo as he was swung up, tiny hands on his midsection the only things keeping him from dropping.

 

“Yes, I can see that.” Jared reached down and gently extracted Ignis from Talcott's grip, for which Ignis was infinitely grateful. “How did he get in here?”

 

Ignis remembered Iris’s words earlier about Jared being mad if he went inside, but the old butler certainly didn’t look angry, and Ignis didn’t remember any accounts of animal cruelty or harsh discipline related to him.

 

“He sneaked in through Gladdy's window!” Iris kept glaring. “I told him he couldn't, but he didn't listen.”

 

“Maybe he simply wanted to say hi to his friend.” Well. That was the closest guess he’d gotten all day, he supposed. “We can ask Master Gladiolus about him once he’s back from training.”

 

Ignis's ears perked. There was one question answered, at least. He supposed this venture wasn't a complete waste. He hadn't known Gladio to train on Saturday afternoons, but it wasn't out of character for the man. Now, all he had to do was get out of there. He gave an experimental wriggle, but Iris squealed and pointed at him.

 

“He's trying to get away!”

 

“There, there. It's all right.” Jared put a hand on Ignis's head lightly. “I’m sure our small friend here has learned his lesson. Perhaps we can let him go now.”

 

That was the best idea Ignis had heard all day, and that was including his own. As Jared released him outside, Ignis planned his next move. He needed to get himself looked at, at some point. His insides still felt smushed, and he wasn’t sure if he shouldn’t be seeing a doctor or taking some kind of curative. The former was out of his reach unless he found a human chaperon, and the latter… well. He didn’t know if potions worked on cats, and hadn’t ever had the occasion to try. Plus, he’d have to go to Noctis for those, and he was loathe to bother the prince while he was studying. (It had absolutely nothing to do with not wanting Noctis to find out what happened to him, _at all_.)

 

Gladio, then. The Shield was at training, but for how much longer, Ignis didn’t know. He should try to catch him before he went elsewhere or – Ignis shuddered at the idea – went home.

 

Ignis winced as a sharp pain shot through his midsection halfway through his jump over a fence. Gladio. And quickly.

 

~*~

 

Prompto was, for lack of a better word, procrastinating. He didn’t really like to think that he was, because you could only procrastinate on something that was close to being due, right? And his exams didn’t start until Monday, and it was still only Saturday. He had plenty of time to go around and take pictures! Now, if he were to do that the next day, _that_ would be procrastinating. But right now? Right now, he was still _fine_. There were so many things for him to capture, too. Interesting things, time-sensitive things that he absolutely had to get now and could _not_ wait until after his exams. For example, on his walk to Noctis’s apartment – and how was he supposed to know Noctis was going to be a goody-two-shoes and start studying a day early – he saw a tree coming into bloom, buds just barely opening into blossoms. He’d taken a bunch of shots at different angles, and congratulated himself for catching it on time. See, if he were stuck at home studying instead, he would have missed that precious moment, as well as the stray dog that he ran across, and the lone balloon in the sky that someone must have accidentally released, and the fancy-ass car on his next walk, between Noctis’s place and the arcade, and this weird cat just now—

 

He stopped in his tracks. There was definitely a weird cat walking ahead of him, one that he’d never seen before – not, of course, that he knew all the cats in the neighbourhood or anything like that. That aside, this cat was particularly strange – Prompto had never even seen its _kind_ before. It was black, but not black; its sleek fur was like ink, the rich black that was all colours and not the lack of, and it was splashed with a dotted pattern in a deeper black that reminded Prompto of a photo he’d seen of a coeurl. He _really_ hoped it wasn’t a coeurl. It looked too small and normal-cat-like to be one, but it wasn’t as if he’d seen many coeurls before. Or any, for that matter, outside of that one photo.

 

But what Prompto did know was that, coeurl or not, this cat was the most beautiful animal he’d ever seen. He whipped out his camera and took a few shots. The cat turned at the sound of his shutter, and looked immediately ready to bolt.

 

“Hey, little guy.” Prompto lowered his camera and put on his most soothing voice. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

The cat gave him what he could have sworn was a skeptical look, before going ahead and bolting.

 

“Wha… hey, wait!” Prompto couldn’t understand it. Usually animals took to him like ducks to water! Especially cats and dogs! As he followed it, he wondered if maybe it _was_ a coeurl after all. Maybe a coeurl kitten, leading him to its mother, who was going to eat him, and…

 

With a pained meow, the cat suddenly collapsed. Prompto rushed to its side. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

 

The cat stood on shaky legs and sat down on its haunches, looking at him. Prompto took it as permission to pick it up, and cradled it gingerly against his chest. With a cursory glance, he couldn’t find anything wrong, but the cat seemed to be in obvious discomfort. He slung his camera over his shoulder and headed home.

 

Unfortunately, once at home, Prompto didn’t find anything more useful. He sat down and gave the cat a more thorough examination, but didn’t see any injuries. The only thing he could glean was that despite having no collar or tag, it looked too well-groomed to be a stray. That, coupled with how docile and well-behaved it was, made him wonder if it was someone’s pet that had gotten lost. “This doesn’t look like something a first aid kit can fix. You need to go see a vet. But I don’t have money for a vet, and they’re gonna ask me questions about you.” He frowned. “I dunno what to do.”

 

“Meow,” said the cat, and glanced at his door.

 

Prompto gave it a gentle pet. “Your owner must be missing you, huh. You look like you were taken good care of before now. I wish they’d given you a tag or something so I can find them for you.”

 

The cat hopped up to his window ledge with a wince, and pawed at it.

 

“I know, you wanna go home.” Prompto sighed. There must be something he could do. At times like this, he wished he was more resourceful, like Noctis.

 

“Okay!” He jumped up and punched one hand into the other, nodding.

 

The cat looked up quizzically.

 

“I’ll take you to Noct! He and Ignis will know what to do!”

 

~*~

 

It was the worst possible outcome. Of all the people he did not want to see him like this, Noctis was at the top of the list.

 

And now, he was outside Noctis’s door, interrupting the prince’s studies, and not feeling well enough to run away anymore. Prompto had said something about an emergency, and Noctis had let them in, simple as that. Ignis supposed it would be all right – it wouldn’t hurt for Noctis to take a small break every once in a while, at least.

 

Having Noctis discover what became of him, however, was another matter altogether. Ignis wasn’t sure if he’d be able to live that down.

 

“Just a sec!” came the answer at Prompto’s knock, and the door opened to reveal a dishevelled Noctis a moment later in a t-shirt and sweatpants, most unbefitting of a price.

 

Prompto put on the biggest, cheesiest grin Ignis had ever seen. “Hey, Noct.”

  
“Hey, Prompto—“

 

Noctis stared. Prompto kept grinning. Ignis tried his best to look like a real cat.

 

“…Ignis?”

 

Ignis felt his heart stop for a second. “Meow?” he said at the same time as Prompto asked, “Er, what?”

 

“Sorry, I just…” Noctis stepped back and gestured for Prompto to go in. He raked a hand through his hair and follow them, still staring intently at Ignis. “This cat just… looks like Ignis, you know?”

 

Prompto looked at Noctis as if he thought he was going insane. Ignis couldn’t quite decide whether to encourage or discourage this line of thinking.

 

“Does… Ignis typically look like a cat?” Prompto asked, as he made himself at home and cautiously put Ignis on the dinner table.

 

“Dunno.” Noctis plopped into the chair next to him and absently scratched Ignis’s head, which Ignis was _not_ going to admit felt nice. He couldn’t believe Noctis was actually entertaining this absurd question. “He looks more like a dog, I guess. He’s pretty big and strong, you know? He’d be like a service dog or something.”

 

Ignis gave an indignant huff. He didn’t look like a cat _or_ a dog; he looked plenty human, when he was one, thank-you-very-much.

 

Prompto laughed. “I think this little guy begs to differ.”

 

“So.” Noctis sat back, though his eyes still followed Ignis. “What’s up? This cat your ‘emergency’? Where’d you even get him, anyway?”

 

“Oh yeah.” Prompto leaned forward and slammed his hands on the table, and Ignis gave a startled meow at the shaking before he could stop himself. “I found him outside. He’s hurt, but I can’t figure out how. The poor thing looks like he’s suffering. I was hoping you'd be able to help.”

  
Noctis gave him a blank look. “I don’t know anything about cats, Prompto. I can probably give him a potion or something, but will that even work on a cat?”

  
Prompto shrugged. “Dude, can’t you like, call Ignis or something? I figured he’d know. He knows everything!”

 

Well. Ignis was flattered by the vote of confidence, but he did not, in fact, know much about cats at all either. Not that he could tell Prompto this right now. Or receive calls.

 

“Yeah. Sure.” Noctis, however, seemed to be in agreement with Prompto, as he took out his phone. Ignis made a mental note to study up on cats in case they asked him about them in the future.

 

The phone rang four times, then cut to voicemail. Noctis frowned and hung up. Tried again – 4 rings, voicemail. Noctis sported a strange expression, somewhere between annoyed and absolutely perplexed, and Ignis realized this must have been the first time in his life he didn’t pick up Noct’s call.

 

“Maybe he’s in a meeting,” Prompto offered. “He’s a pretty busy guy, right?”

 

“Yeah, maybe,” Noctis mumbled, but Ignis could see from his eyes that he was unconvinced. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything more than meow.

 

“Meow,” said Ignis, and two sets of eyes snapped to him. Ignis didn’t like drawing attention to himself, but he _was_ feeling pretty terrible by now, and if they were waiting for him to answer his phone, they were going to be waiting for a long time. Possibly a “forever” kind of long time.

 

“So… what do we do?”

 

Noctis shrugged. “I don’t know. Potion?”

 

Prompto gave him an unsure look, and reluctantly said, “I guess it can’t hurt. Probably wouldn’t make him worse than how he is, anyway.”

 

“Yeah.” Despite agreeing, Noctis didn’t move.

 

“They’re magic, right?”

 

“…Right. Magic.”

 

Finally, Noctis left the table, returning with what Ignis recognized as a fairly weak energy drink. Noctis closed his eyes, and a moment later, the can glowed blue, then settled into an ethereal white. Noctis looked nervous as he cracked the now-potion over Ignis.

 

At first, Ignis wasn’t sure if the potion had any effect. Though, as Prompto said, it probably wasn’t making him worse, so there was that, at least. Then he saw the small blue particles of magic swirling around him, and felt something inside himself knit back together.

 

“Did it work?” Prompto asked in a whisper, eyes wide.

 

“I think so,” Noctis whispered back.

 

Ignis stood up, made a lap around the top of the table, and sat with a meow of confirmation. And a yawn. A huge, wide yawn that he swore was bigger than his face.

 

“Hey, uh, Noct, is that supposed to happen?” Prompto’s voice seemed muffled, and Ignis put his head down on his paws.

 

“I dunno.” Ignis felt a light touch on his back, and gave a sleepy mumble in reply. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he was suddenly so damnably tired. “Maybe there was too much potion. I mean, the dosage is for a human, and he’s only that big…”

 

“Oh, Astrals, I hope we didn’t kill him.”

 

Kill? Ignis wasn’t dead, he just needed a nap, really. Or an Ebony. Either worked. He tried to tell them, but it came out sounding something like, “Meow meow meow,” and he didn’t think they understood.

 

“He should be fine… I guess he can stay here for a bit.”

 

Where was “here” again, Ignis wondered. That was right – Noct’s apartment. Well, there certainly wouldn’t be any Ebony there. Nap, then.

 

As he drifted off to sleep, he thought he heard Prompto say something like, “I guess I'll take some shots and print off posters to see if anyone lost him.”

 

~*~

 

Noctis Lucis Caelum was almost _sure_ the Astrals were playing some kind of trick on him. The day had started normally enough. He had been good and studying, and declined going to the arcade with Prompto. And now, Prompto was in his apartment _anyway_ , with a _cat_. And Ignis was nowhere to be found. And he could swear, _swear_ , that the cat was a dead ringer for Ignis.

 

It didn't make any sense, he knew. Ignis was a human, not a cat, and had never, to his knowledge, been a cat. But the more Noctis looked at the cat, the more it  _did_ look like Ignis, whatever Prompto had to say. Even Prompto had admitted he’d never seen a cat with that weird, spotted pattern before, but Noctis would recognize it anywhere. He’d seen it nearly every day for the past few months, after Ignis officially joined the Crownsguard, on the advisor's shirt, sleek and shiny under the light.

 

And those  _eyes_ . Piercing, green, not atypical for a cat; but the colour was the exact shade of Ignis’s eyes – not that Noctis spent all his time looking into them or anything – and their expressions were too human and knowing.

 

But Ignis was not a cat. Really. It was probably just a weird coincidence, and this cat's owner was missing it while Noctis was here contemplating whether or not it was his royal advisor in disguise, like an idiot.

 

After Prompto took a few photos of the cat and left to make posters, Noctis tried Ignis's phone again. Several times, in fact. No answer. He frowned. That had never, ever happened before, in the entire 13 years he'd known Ignis. Ignis had never not answered a call when it was from Noctis, even when he was busy. Plus, meetings didn’t last  _that_ long, and even if they did, Ignis would have texted him to let him know.

 

So it stood to reason that Ignis was in some kind of trouble. The concept seemed absurd. Ignis was  _never_ in trouble. But – he reminded himself again – Ignis also never not answered his calls.

 

Being stuck as a cat, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered, would definitely do it. He shoved it away, because that kind of thing didn't  _happen_ to people.

 

Which left one possibility – Ignis was in serious trouble.

 

Noctis picked up the sleeping cat with a sigh and carefully moved it to a more comfortable spot on the couch before plopping down beside it, his mind racing. If something were to happen to Ignis, who would be the most likely to know what? Himself (he didn’t), his father (much too busy), Ignis’s uncle (Noctis had no idea how to reach him), Gladio…

 

Gladio.

 

Gladio took so long to answer his phone, Noctis started to wonder if he’d disappeared like Ignis. When he did, his voice was breathless and annoyed. “Yeah? What do you want?”

 

“Hey, it’s me.”

 

Noctis could practically hear the eyeroll. “Yeah, I know it’s you. Why else do you think I even answered? What do you want?”

 

“Have you seen Ignis recently? I can’t reach him and I’m wondering if something happened to him.”

 

Gladio snorted. “You’re asking _me_ about Iggy? He’s _your_ babysitter. I just see him every once in a while to gossip about you.”

 

Noctis narrowed his eyes. “Just answer the question.”

 

“What’s gotten your panties in a twist? …Well, anyway. I haven’t seen him today if that’s what you wanna know. He was blabbing to me about some magic experiment yesterday, but I sent him to you and haven’t seen him since.” A small note of worry crept into Gladio’s voice. “Magic experiment... You don’t think he accidentally burned down his apartment, do you?”

 

“No, Ignis would be more careful than that.” Noctis sounded more confident than he felt. Even he was still a bit iffy with magic, and he was born with it. But Ignis was meticulous and methodical, and Noctis would have heard if there were any major accidents in the city.

 

“Yeah, well, I got nothing then. So if you don’t mind, I’ve got a sado-masochistic relationship with the Immortal to go back to.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Gladio laughed. “Got the Marshall to give me some private tutoring. He’s looking at me like he thinks I’m slacking off. Lemme know if you find out anything about Iggy. Gotta go!”

 

“Wait—”

 

The phone went dead. Noctis frowned at it. That was a whole lot of not-very-helpful, though he wasn’t sure what he’d expected from Gladio. Maybe something like, “Oh yeah, I saw him earlier this morning. He turned into a cat right before my eyes. I’m sure you’ll recognize him.” Which was completely unreasonable, because people didn’t _turn into cats_.

 

Noctis groaned and put his head in his hands. The news, then. If Ignis was experimenting with magic (which could possibly have turned him into a cat, except that wasn’t possible, because even Noctis didn’t know how to do that and he was _sure_ he was better at magic than Ignis was; he _had_ to be,) maybe he did cause an accident. Noctis turned on the TV and stared in rapt attention at the BREAKING NEWS! headlines at the bottom of his screen, willing them to scroll past faster and tell him what he needed to know.

 

After a while, the headlines started to repeat, and Noctis was bored, and there was nothing about any apartment fires, or major accidents, or otherwise odd phenomena at all.

 

Maybe, and it irked Noctis to think this, _maybe_ Ignis was just too absorbed in this experiment to pay attention to him. And he could only hope so, because that was better than the alternatives at least.

 

Beside Noctis, the cat stirred and stretched with a wide yawn. Noctis absently petted it, his eyes still on the TV. It purred for a moment before shaking its head and padding over to his desk.

 

“Meow.”

 

“Mm?” Noctis looked down at the cat, and saw it pawing his science textbook. “Seriously? You want me to study at a time like this?”

 

“Meow,” came the confirmation, as the cat nudged the book open.

 

Noctis stared. “Are you _sure_ you're not Ignis?”

 

The cat stared back, and for a moment, Noctis was absolutely certain. And then it turned away, padded over to the couch, and curled up again.

 

“...Well, all right.” With nothing to do, Noctis picked up his textbook and started reading. Less than half a page in, his mind wandered back to the cat sitting beside him. It was Ignis, he was sure. There were too many coincidences – aside from its unique appearance, whoever heard of a _cat_ telling a stranger to study? Though the biggest piece of evidence, at least in Noctis's eyes, was just that it _felt_ like Ignis in a way he couldn't describe.

 

Getting Ignis to admit it, however, was another matter altogether. Luckily, Noctis probably knew his advisor best out of everyone in the world, and had a few tricks up his sleeve.

 

Frowning, Noctis fetched a notebook and a pen and wrote down several equations. He tried to act natural, though his heart pounded in his chest.

 

“A person driving a car suddenly applies the brakes,” he read from his textbook. “The car takes 4 seconds to come to rest while travelling 20 meters at constant acceleration. How do you determine the speed of the car immediately before the brakes were applied?” He paused for a moment to sneak a quick glance. The cat had one ear perked, listening, but seemed otherwise relaxed. Noctis allowed himself an internal pat. “Hmm... I'm not sure which of these equations to use... Hey, Ignis, some help here?”

 

Like a charm, the cat sighed and padded over to his notebook, pointing to the correct equation with one delicate paw. Then, it froze, dawning horror washing over its features, comically exaggerated on its feline face.

 

Noctis didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Before he could do either, Ignis bolted under his couch, and Noctis felt a little bad about his trick. But only a little.

 

“C’mon, Ignis, it’s okay.”

 

No answer. Noctis dropped flat and peered under the couch. The cat backed up farther.

 

“Stop hiding, Specs. I know it’s you.”

 

This time, he received a near-imperceptible meow in reply.

 

Noctis stood up and dusted himself off. “I’m not gonna make fun of you or anything. You’ve gotta come out so we can fix this.”

 

“Meow.” Confirmatory. But no cat.

 

“Look, Ignis.” Noctis changed tactics. “I’ve got a day and a half until exams, so I’m gonna need you back in working condition ASAP. Who’s going to drive me if you’re a cat? Who's going to help me study?” His voice turned plaintive. “Who’s going to _feed_ me?”

 

This time it worked. A nose appeared, then a paw, then the rest of the cat. Ignis shook himself and hopped onto the couch again, looking utterly despondent. Noctis breathed a sigh of relief.

 

They sat in silence.

 

“So, uh,” Noctis ventured, “I don’t suppose you know how to change back?”

 

Ignis gave him a _look_.

 

“Hey, a guy can hope.” Noctis leaned forward, elbows on knees, chin cradled in his hands. “Er, you _can_ change back though, right?”

 

Ignis made a weird wiggle, which Noctis took a moment to interpret as a shrug, still looking as miserable as a cat possibly could.

 

“Well, look on the bright side.” (“Meow?”) “At least now I can tell Prompto to stop looking for your owner, and I’ll just keep you instead.”

 

Noctis could almost hear the “Noooooct…” in Ignis’s warning growl. He laughed, nervously; laughing was safer than panicking, because he didn’t know what to do, because the one person who had always helped him was unable to do it now.

 

Except that wasn't true. Just because Ignis couldn't talk right now didn't mean he couldn't help.

 

“Let's just... figure this out.” Easier said than done. Noctis tried to think. One step at a time... “Gladio said you were experimenting with magic. That's what caused this, yeah?”

 

Ignis nodded.

 

“Okay. What kind of experi—” Noctis trailed off. “Right, you can't tell me. Can anyone tell me?”

 

Nod.

 

“Er... Gladio, I guess?”

 

Another nod.

 

Noctis sighed and picked up the phone again.

 

This time, Gladio took even longer to answer.

 

“Oi, what did I just tell you?”

 

Noctis ignored the tone. “Gladio, it’s an emergency.”

 

“Yeah?” There was a pause. “...Iggy still alive?”

 

“He's alive, but, um.” Noctis tried to find the words. How to approach the subject? “What did he tell you about his experiment?”

 

“What, yesterday? He said something like… Ahem.” Gladio did his best Ignis impression. “'If you could infuse the essence of an object into a spell, they might interact in such a way as to modify the properties.' I didn't really listen after that.”

 

“Uh.”

 

“Basically, he means that he thinks if you channel magic through certain objects, you can make it do weird things.”

 

Noctis wasn't sure how Gladio understood that when he didn't, but a glance beside him confirmed that he was right. “Like turning people into cats kind of weird things?”

 

There was a long pause. Noctis wasn't sure if Gladio was still on the line, when he asked, “...Who’d he turn into a cat?”

 

“Gladio, I think you’d better come to my place. As soon as you can.” This time, there was no question of refusal.

 

“All right. I’ll finish up quick.”

 

Noctis slumped down and gave Ignis a weak smile that he hoped was reassuring. Surely, between Gladio and Ignis and himself, they'd be able to figure it out. It was going so well, and soon, Ignis would be back to normal!

 

~*~

 

It was going so well, when the world turned upside-down. More precisely, things hadn't been going well _at all_ until that point, when everything finally seemed to be going smoothly. Noctis, horror of horrors, had been able to tell immediately that Ignis was, well, him, and he wasn't sure whether to be grateful or mortified. But Noctis had taken his transformation rather better than expected, and had managed to get an answer out of Gladio, the only other person in the world who had an idea of what was going on. With the situation looking up, Ignis was almost daring to hope for a return to his normal, human self.

 

That was, until the world turned upside-down, quite literally.

 

One second, everything was fine, and Ignis settled down to wait for Gladio. The next second, there was a disturbance in the air, a furry snout in his face, and a loud “WUFF!” that sent him flying, and Ignis found himself upside down, clinging desperately to a floor lamp while a ferocious beast circled under him, panting, ready to pounce at any hint of weakness.

 

“Umbra!” Ignis wasn’t sure why Noctis was so _happy_ to see the pup. “Come over here, there’s a good boy.”

 

Ignis wanted to make a remark about how good boys did not terrorize their friends – or their friends’ friends’ friends – but he let the comment slide, considering no one would be able to understand him anyway. As Umbra gave him a last bark and padded over to Noctis, Ignis allowed himself a small sigh of relief. As far as he had known, spirit messengers did not _do_ things like chasing poor, innocent cats onto household fixtures, but he didn’t need a reminder of yet another thing he was wrong about that day. After all, Crownsguard generally didn’t do things like cling to floor lamps for dear life from the threat of a medium-sized dog. Ignis _would_ be dying of mortification, except he was pretty sure he’d already spent several of his nine lives doing so already, and at the moment, he was more concerned about not getting mauled, chewed up, or slobbered on.

 

Noctis, however, was entirely oblivious to Ignis’s predicament as he fussed over Umbra.

 

“Whatcha got there?” Noctis asked, as Umbra panted and Ignis failed to find a way to disentangle himself that would not involve diving at the floor head first. “Is that a new message from Luna?”

 

As Noctis ignored him, Ignis pushed down a pitiful mewl that threatened to issue from his throat, because out of all the things he did not do, which, yes, included clinging to lamps, mewling pitifully was at the top of his list. And it was only close to happening at all because of his strange new body he barely knew how to control, coupled with the intensely stressful day he’d been having. And how long had it been since he’d last had an Ebony? _Hours_ , countless hours. It had nothing to do with the worry that maybe he was going to be stuck forever, as a cat _on Noctis’s floor lamp_ , or the fact that Noctis was ignoring him in favour of playing with a dog.

 

“Heh, Luna’s always got the best timing,” Noctis said.

 

_Worst timing_ , Ignis thought with a glare.

 

“She asked about you guys!” Noctis grinned and mumbled as he wrote back. “Hey… Luna… funny… you… should… ask.”

 

Ignis frowned. That sounded suspicious.

 

“Prompto’s… doing… fine… but… Ignis… turned… into… a… cat.”

 

“Wait, Noct—” Ignis started to say, but it came out as, “Meow, meow!”

 

Noctis glanced up, and had the gall to give him a dismissive wave. “I’ll get you in a sec, Specs.”

 

Ignis gave a more insistent meow. Noctis kept his attention on his notebook. “Look, Luna’s the Oracle.” As if Ignis didn’t know. “She’s a healer, she might be able to fix this.”

 

Ignis didn’t know how a healer of Starscourge was supposed to help his presumably-not-Starscourge, but Noctis kept writing, anyway.

 

“There.” Once done, Noctis nodded to himself. Ignis thought the situation couldn’t get any worse. Then, as if the Astrals had heard his thoughts and set out to prove him wrong, Noctis said, “Oh yeah!” and grabbed a photo from a small stack on the kitchen counter that Ignis hadn’t noticed earlier, slipping it into the notebook before giving the whole thing over to Umbra. “Let Luna know it’s _urgent_ , okay?”

 

Ignis groaned inwardly. His life was over. Was every single person in all of Lucis – _and out_ – going to see him like this? He’d run into just about everyone he knew. All he was missing was His Majesty himself now.

 

Noctis sat for a moment, his gaze far away. Then, he extricated Ignis and said, in a small, quiet voice, “Maybe we should ask Dad for help…”

 

“MEOW.”

 

There was a host of reasons why bringing this problem up with the king would be a Very Bad Idea, and only some of them were selfish. First of all, King Regis was a busy man, what with having a kingdom to rule and all. Ignis didn’t doubt the love the king bore his son, but perhaps he’d take less kindly to his schedule being interrupted by said son’s royal advisor getting himself into trouble. Besides, it was Ignis’s job – quite literally, in fact – to make life easier for the king and the prince both, not more difficult. Which brought him up to the second reason – if His Majesty ever found out that Ignis had failed so completely and spectacularly at his job as to need _rescuing_ , Ignis might not have much of a job left, and he happened to rather like his job.

 

Plus, and Ignis didn’t want to admit it, he was afraid. Not just of the king being busy or angry, nor of failing or losing his job. Ignis was afraid King Regis would look at him and tell him there was nothing he could do for him. And if the King of Lucis, the world’s absolute authority on magic, couldn’t fix his backfired spell, well. Ignis supposed he’d better learn to enjoy the life of a royal household pet.

 

Luckily, as if any of this could even remotely be called “lucky”, a loud knock saved him from further agony.

 

“Oi,” came Gladio’s booming voice from the other side of the door. “Someone call for a rescue?”

 

Ignis felt all four of his legs buckle in relief, and didn’t even care. Together, with Noct and Gladio, they may well be able to figure this out. At the very least, it was going to be his best – and probably only – chance.

 

Gladio, of course, looked way too amused when Noctis answered the door. To Ignis's chagrin, Prompto followed him in. “Look what I found on the way here.” Gladio grinned as his eyes landed on Ignis, and waved a small poster at him. “This our missing steward?”

 

“No way...” Prompto dashed over, and Ignis suppressed the urge to run. Charging teens and creatures, he'd learned, did not usually spell happy times. “This was _Ignis_ all along?”

 

“Yeah.” Noctis gave him a half-smile. “I told you it looked like him.”

 

Prompto looked from Ignis, to Noctis, to Gladio. “But... how'd you figure it out so quick?”

 

Gladio shrugged. “The squirt would never call  _me_ for an emergency instead of Iggy. Wasn't hard to put two and two together.”

 

Ignis made a mental note that Gladio was definitely smarter than he pretended. Now, he just needed him to use those smarts to reverse his spell.

 

“Meow,” Ignis said, reminding them he was still there, waiting.

 

“Oh yeah. So, any idea how to fix this?”

 

Two pairs of eyes stared at Gladio, pleading. He stared back, from one to the other. “You guys know I don't do this magic stuff, right?”

 

“Pleeaaase?”

 

Gladio sighed. “Guess we can go to his place and have a look. You got spare keys, Noct?”

 

Behind him, Prompto brightened. “Woohoo, field trip!”

 

~*~

 

Gladiolus Amicitia had no idea when he woke up that day that he would be called upon to perform a miracle, but there it was, and there he was. “There,” more precisely, was the study of Ignis's apartment, at Ignis's pristine desk, holding a notebook covered in neat script while staring blankly at a piece of fluff.

 

Three pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly. Gladio didn't know what to tell them.

 

“Well?” Noctis asked.

 

“Well what?”

 

Noctis made an impatient sound and gestured at the desk and everything on it. “What do we do?”

 

“Beats me.” Gladio shrugged. He hated letting people down, especially when one of those people was his charge and the other was a good friend, but he was really out of his depth. Give him something to fight, and he'd gladly go at it until his dying breath. But mysterious magic spells gone awry? _Please_. As Crownsguard, he had _access_ to magic, sure, but he never took to it the way Ignis did, and it didn't interest him beyond the basics.  “Says here that Iggy wanted to try channelling a fire spell through garula fur. Guess that's what this setup is for.”

 

“Where's the part about turning into a cat?” Prompto asked.

 

Gladio threw his hands up. “There isn't any!”

 

“I don't think that was supposed to happen.” Noctis frowned and held out his hand. “Gimme here.”

 

Gladio handed over the book and examined the hide on the table, giving it a cautious poke with a pen lest it did to him what it did to Ignis. The last thing they needed was for all of them to turn into a menagerie, Crown Prince included.

 

“He has a list of spells and effects,” Noctis said, eyes still at the book. “It says garula fur's supposed to make a spell cast twice. No mention of cats _anywhere_.”

 

Gladio shrugged again and went back to the fur, leaving the notebook with Noctis. There was something weird about a part of it, a small catch... He chanced it and picked it up for a closer look. To his utter relief, he did not turn into a cat.

 

“Hey, Noct, come have a look at this.” Gladio parted the fur carefully, revealing a tiny, clear hook: the shell of a cat's claw, caught in the skin and almost fully hidden. It was hard enough to spot even when he was looking for anomalies; it would have been almost impossible for an unsuspecting individual to notice, even someone as careful as Ignis.

 

But now that they knew the problem, they were still none closer to finding the solution.

 

“So what do we do with that?” Gladio asked, after a stretch of silence. “Noct? Iggy?” No answer from either one. “Prompto?”

 

“Woah, woah, woah.” Prompto shot straight up and held up his hands. “What are you asking me for? I can't even use magic.”

 

“Well.” Gladio stood and gave a good stretch, gesturing with his chin to Noctis and the cat curled up by him. “Guess it's up to you guys to figure this one out. Good luck, kids, Prompto and I are going to head out to give you some peace and quiet—”

 

Before he could reach the door, the air shimmered, and a dog appeared in front of him.

 

“Umbra!”

 

“Umbra?”

 

“Meeeeeeeeow...”

 

Noctis, seemingly oblivious to the question and the tepid meowing, bent down to scratch the dog's ears.

 

“Good boy, Umbra. Did Luna have an idea?”

 

Gladio had no idea what the Oracle – presumably, at least – had to do with a dog that appeared out of nowhere. And then, the dog – Umbra? – produced a notebook from equally-nowhere before disappearing again, and Gladio decided he was possibly better off not knowing.

 

Noctis took out a neatly-folded letter from the notebook, drawing a gasp from Prompto that he quickly hushed. Gladio gave him a curious glance before peering over Noctis’s shoulder.

 

“Dear Noctis,” began the letter. “I’m glad you’re doing well. I’ve heard it’s exam season soon, and I hope your studies are going smoothly—”

 

“Er.” Noctis frowned. “That’s not important. Let’s see, studies, rest up, etc, etc, eat my vegetables… Astrals, she’s as bad as Ignis. Oh! Okay, there, Ignis. Ahem. 'I’m sorry to hear about Ignis’s predicament. I did some reading, and I believe I may have a solution.' Huh, whaddya know, she really had something?”

 

“Huh,” Gladio said, and found his surprised echoed with, “Meow?” and “No way!”

 

“Noctis, have you heard of the tale of the Frog Prince?”

 

Noctis looked up, and Gladio shook his head. “Can’t say I have.” And he’d read _plenty_ of books.

 

“It is an old fairy tale told in Tenebrae from time to time. The story goes that, once upon a time, a princess was playing with a golden ball, when she dropped it in a well by accident. A frog offered to fetch it for her, if she would let him go to her castle, eat from her plate, and sleep in her bed. The princess agreed, thinking to leave the frog at the well, but he followed her home, and her father ordered her to keep her promise. She reluctantly gave in to the frog's demands, culminating in giving him a kiss, which then changed him into a prince. He told her that he had been under a daemon's curse all along, and her kiss broke the spell.”

 

Gladio raised an eyebrow. He was starting to suspect where this story was going, and a quick glance beside him confirmed that Noctis thought the same, and was doing everything in his power to pretend that he hadn't realized.

 

“This story is where the name of the curative 'Maiden's Kiss' came from,” Lunafreya's letter continued, and Noctis squirmed as he flushed deeper and deeper with every new sentence. “Nowadays, it is attributed to the Oracle line, but I believe the princess who inspired the story is not actually of Tenebrae, but of Lucis. There is great power in the Lucian bloodline. If anyone can dispel an unknown enchantment, it is you, Noctis.”

 

Gladio felt his jaw drop. He’d never met the Oracle in person, but he’d never have pegged the solemn girl he’d heard on the radio as a joker. And yet, there she was, offering what couldn’t _possibly_ be a serious solution.

 

“Er.”

 

Unless it was.

 

“Did she just…”

 

Noctis was bright red, Prompto was bent over and shaking with laughter, and Ignis was… nowhere to be found.

 

Well. As long as it had nothing to do with him, Gladio supposed it was fine. In fact, he took that as his cue to exit, before he got roped into more. He grinned and slung an arm around Prompto’s shoulders, steering him towards the door. “All right, blondie, let’s give loverboy here some privacy.”

 

“Wha—Gladio—I’m not—”

 

“See ya! Tell us how it went!”

 

“Yeah, go get ‘im, Noct!”

 

“That’s not—”

 

Aaaaaand, slam!

 

They were halfway down the hall when Prompto slowed and stopped. “Wait, you think we should tell Noct to try a rememdy first?”

 

Gladio put a finger to his lips. “Nah, more fun this way. We’ll tell them tomorrow if this doesn’t work.”

 

Prompto stared, eyes wide. “Do you think it’ll actually…?”

 

Gladio shrugged. “Who knows. It sounded like complete balderdash to me, but hey, I’m not an Oracle or a king, so what do I know?”

 

“You know,” Prompto said as they continued walking again, his voice low and conspiratorial. “This is _totally_ going to be Noct’s first kiss.”

 

~*~

 

Ignis couldn't believe this whole mess happened because of such a small, stupid mistake, a fragment of a cat's claw in his fur sample. It would have been laughable that he hadn't noticed it if the situation weren't so serious. But now that he had a lead, he tried to go through his options. He may be able to reverse the spell himself, but he'd have to research, re-calculate, figure out elemental properties and tendencies... He had no idea how long it would take, or if it would be possible at all in his present form. Regardless, it was time he didn't have.

 

Next option, then. He could go to the king, and have one of his friends explain the situation to His Majesty, but that was a last resort he would rather not have to use.

 

“Hey, uh, Ignis?” came the call.

 

Or, he could follow Lady Lunafreya's most absurd and unexpected suggestion. Absurd, unprofessional, improper, unseemly, indecent... he could go on. On second thought, it was, he decided, completely out of the question. Ignis backed up farther under the cupboard where he hid, tucking himself into a shadowed corner behind the ornate leg of the shelf.

 

“C'mon, Specs, where'd you go?”

 

Except Noctis was actually entertaining the possibility, from the sound of it. Luckily for Ignis, this was his apartment, and if he did not want to be found in his own home, he was not going to be found. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that this plan was a terrible one, because it brought him back to square one, but he couldn't very well let the Crown Prince kiss him on the word of an old _story_.

 

“If you're counting on me to leave, it's not gonna happen.”

 

Ignis was, in fact, counting on Noctis to leave. He'd figured the teen would get bored of looking for him at some point, at least.

 

“I'm staying right here until we change you back,” Noctis continued. “So it's gonna be your fault if I miss important meetings, or fail my exams...” There was a loud rumbling. “...Or starve to death.”

 

Ignis doubted the Citadel would allow the first two to happen, but the third was a distinct possibility. Considering Noctis's particular habits, he was likely to become severely malnourished if Ignis didn't cater to his picky eating at least, if not actually downright starved.

 

There was another rumble, and the sound of footsteps walking away. When Noctis spoke again, his voice was a bit farther. “I really am starving, y'know. You better have some food in here.”

 

Well. They could both be disappointed about not getting what they want, then. Ignis had ingredients in his fridge, but nothing already prepared.

 

It took only a moment for Noctis to realize. “Seriously? The hell am I supposed to do with all this?”

 

Ignis wanted to remind him that this was, in fact,  _Ignis's_ apartment, not Noctis's, and he wasn't supposed to do anything with the stuff in there, but he half-wondered if Noctis was just trying to make him answer. Admittedly, it was increasingly difficult not to.

 

“Tell me you've got Cup Noodles at least.” The voice was farther still now, and muffled. Ignis heard the sound of cupboard doors opening and closing.

 

He did, in fact, have Cup Noodles – a whole box of them that Gladio had given him and he had stashed in the pantry. As Noctis found and made himself some, Ignis was reminded he was sorely remiss in his duties. Also, hungry. Very, very hungry.

 

“At least I won't starve _today_ ,” Noctis said through slurps of noodles. “I bet you only have these because _Gladio_ made you get them. At least _he_ came through for me.”

 

That was not fair, and Ignis was sure Noctis knew it. He was not going to take the bait.

 

Noctis paused, waiting, and then... “Maybe I should make  _him_ my advisor instead.”

 

Now, that was going too far. Ignis slipped out from his hiding place with an indignant meow.  _Fine_ . If Noctis wanted to try kissing him that badly, then he could, royal protocol be damned.

 

“Theeeere you are.” Noctis re-appeared in front of him so quickly, Ignis could have sworn he warped. Before he could react, Noctis grabbed him around the middle, and Ignis had a terrifying flashback to earlier that morning. To his relief, Noctis gripped him firmly, but didn't squeeze.

 

For a few frozen moments, they stared at each other.

 

“Specs,” Noctis said, and licked his lips nervously, and made no move.

 

“Meow,” Ignis answered.

 

“Ignis.” Noctis gulped, looking away. “Look, I, uh. I haven't really... I dunno how to... It's not gonna be very good, okay?”

 

Was that what he was worried about? Ignis tapped him lightly with a paw, hoping it would come across as reassuring.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. This was my idea to begin with.”

 

Well, technically, Lunafreya's, but Ignis supposed now wasn't the time to remind him.

 

“Okay, here goes...”

 

Ignis suppressed a yelp as he suddenly started moving, and Noctis's face was  _right there_ in front of him, and every cat instinct was telling him to run. And then he felt a light pressure on his head and, a moment later, on his mouth, and...

 

Nothing happened.

 

Ignis slumped down, feeling every misfortune of the day hit him like a ton of bricks, and of  _course_ it didn't work, why would it, he shouldn't even have let Noctis try, that was a terrible breach of his duties, and—

 

“Look, I'm sorry,” Noctis started saying, “I'll ask dad and see if he knows anything...”

 

At least, that was what Ignis thought Noctis was saying, because all he could really hear was a pounding in his ears, and he could feel magic whirling in him and through him. The next second, he found himself sprawled on the floor while Noctis stared at him, dumbstruck.

 

“Close your mouth, Noct,” Ignis said, though his voice shook. “It's undignified.”

 

Noctis stared for a moment longer, before launching himself at Ignis. “It worked!”

 

“So it appears.” Really, that was also rather unprincely, but Ignis found himself hugging the teen back. “Thank you, Noct.”

 

Noctis grinned up at him. “Anytime.”

 

“...Really now.” Ignis arched an eyebrow.

 

Noctis flushed as he realized what he said, but smirked and lifted his head. “Yeah. I mean it.”

 


End file.
